Garment



Feb. 5, 1935.

w. D. cRA'le GARMENT Filed Sept. 29, 1934 INVENTOR.

Tlfilliam D. (lraig A ORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 5, 1935 William D. Craig, Meadville, Pa., assignor to Hookless Fastener Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 29, 1934, Serial No. 746,067

Claims.

My invention relates to garments having an opening closed by a slide fastener.

In garments of the type which encircle the body such as corsets, trousers, etc. it has been found 5 that when the user opens the slide fastener and begins to remove the garment, it is likely that the opposite sides of the opening will be grabbed by the hands and heavy strains placed on the lower end of the fastener. This is likely to cause breakage of the fastener in one way or another if the stress is not taken up by some supplemental means. It has been proposed to apply a transverse reinforcing tape across the opening above the bottom end of the fastener to take'up this stress, which is quite satisfactory in trousers, but incorsets such a strap is objectionable for the reason that there is pressure always on the inner side of the fastener which tends to press such strap against the slider and obstruct its movement in opening the fastener.

The object of this invention is to provide a new and improved means for preventing such strains whereby no damage may result to the fastener, and whereby the slider may be freely operated. According to the invention, the protective flap which is ordinarily used underneath the fastener is taken advantage of to transmit the tearing stresses. Suitable securing means is em- .ployed for attaching this flap at the desired point to the lower end of the fastener stringer.

'In the accompanying drawing, I have shown for purposes of illustration one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice. In the drawing: v

.Fig. 1 is a front view of the corset equipped with a slide fastener;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the corset being removed from the body;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the action of the parts under stress; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view showing the fastener closed.

The garment in which I have illustrated my invention comprises a corset '7 having a vertical opening 8, extending from the top edge to a point intermediate the garment. The opening 8 is closed by a slide fastener 9,. comprising cooperating stringers 10, 11 having fastening means which are manipulated to open or closed position by means of the slider 12 in a manner which is well understood in the art. A protective flap 13 is attached to the side of the opening throughout its entire length and has its opposite free edge 14 projecting underneath and beyond the slide i tener stringer.

fastener. The rows of stitching for attaching the protective flap are indicated in Fig. 4 by the numeral 15. The fastener stringer on the 0pposite side is, of course, not attached to the protective fiap except at and near the bottom end.

Supplemental securing means is provided for attaching the stringer to the protective flap at a point above the bottom end of the fastener so that tearing stresses applied in removing the garment will-be transmitted through the protective flap rather than through the bottom end of the fastener. For this purpose I employ a series of stitches in the shape of a hockey stick l6, and preferably a zigzag line of stitching starting from a point very close to the bottom end of the fastener and extending parallel to the edge of the opening for approximately one inch, and thence inwardly on a diagonal line across the slide fas- The row of stitches terminates in any suitable way such as the hook-like extension 17. The diagonal line of stitches is so placed as to be perpendicular to the line of stress when the garmentis being removed. (,See Fig. 2).

The slider is below the stitching when the fastener is fully open so that no tearing stress is transmitted to the bottom end of the fastener or to the slider.

While I have shown and described in this ap-* plication one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purposes of illustration and description and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A corset comprising in combination a body encircling member having an opening extending from one edge to an intermediate portion thereof, a slide fastener for closing the opening comprising tape stringers secured to the corset material along the edges of the opening, interlocking fastening means on the edges of said tapes, a slider on said fastening means for openingand closing the same, a protective flap of flexible material underlying the opening throughout its entire length and attached throughout its length to the corset material on one side of the opening having its other edge projecting beyond the slide fastener on the other side of the opening, and securing means on said other side of the opening passing through the protective flap, corset material and fastener tape, said securing means being located adjacent to and above the slider when the slider is at the bottom end of the-fastener,

and extending over a substantial portion 01' the width of said fastener tapes and protective flap.

2. The combination defined in the claim" 1 wherein said securing means comprises a group of stitches, including a line of stitching starting from a point adjacent the edge of the opening and above the bottom end of the fastener, and extending across said tape stringer. v a

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said securing means includes a line of stitching transverse to the fastener tape to resist stresses produced in removing the corset from the body of the wearer, both ends oi. said line of stitching being turned back to prevent stresses tending to concentrate at the ends of said transverse line of stitching, from disrupting the"s'titchin g at such points.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said securing means comprises a group 01' stitches in approximately the shape of a hockey stick as shown at 16. 17 in the drawing.

5. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said securing means comprises stitches including-a row of stitching extending along a line parallel to the edge of an opening and upwardly from the bottom end of the fastener to a point above the extreme open position of the slider, and thence inwardly from the edge of the opening and diagonally crosswise of the tape stringer, said crosswise portion oi. the stitching being approximately perpendicular to the line of stress on the sides of the opening when in the position of Fig. 2 of the drawing.

WILLIAM D. CRAIG. 

